Riding through North East Europe(with a side trip to Venice) in September.

[enduro0125]

Day 12

Vienna
For the first time in our lives we decided on taking a tour bus.
With only having one day to try and see the city it seemed like something to try.

This was tough for us as we hate seeing the obnoxious tourists when we are out and about.
Now we have become the enemy.

Schönbrunn Palace.














Free of the tour bus,we were back on our own.

A few VIP's have had their coffee here.






Off to the Weiner Prater.



We had to do the Prater Tower,117 meter high(360ft)chairoplane spinning you at 38mph.





The weather wasn't great and being late in the season,we had the place to ourselves.



To rich for me.



Another bike that never made it to the US.


It started pouring so we made a run to our hotel and checked our route for tomorrow.

Budapest.........

[g®eg]

great report
loved seeing the Dolomites pics,, we were just there too (September).

[enduro0125]

Day 13 & 14

The day started out with a little bit of drizzle which made getting out of Vienna a little trick due to visibility.
We missed the ramp out of the city and had to back track to try it again.
The best way out was via the autostradda,a necessary evil today.

Pointing the right direction we worked our way into Hungary riding over the Pannonia basin.

Our first stop in Hungary was in the medieval city of Sopron.









We got some Forint(HUF)


Then some caffeine,Diet Coke for Ellie and espresso for me.
The ride into Buda was all motorway.

At our hotel.


The bikes were parked for the next two nights and we were back to bus and walking for transportation.

A short walk down to the local pub for dinner.
Taste the soup?









We didn't eat him.


After dinner we took a bus across the Danube into Pest took get a preview of tomorrows agenda.

Wow!


Budapest was a pleasant surprise.


tomorrow,Budapest part two.......

[Cuttle]

[Mark_O]

Originally Posted by Cuttle

Would you pass me the chilli powder?

[enduro0125]

Day 14 cont.

Budapest

Some interesting facts about Budapest:

• Although initially inhabited fifty thousand years ago,it has only had its present name for a mere 128 years.Prior to 1873 ,Obuda,Buda and Pest were separate towns.
• Under its hills there is a system of caves with thermal springs which supply 12 spas with 70 million liters of water daily.h
• There are nine bridges spanning the Danube,the oldest being the Szechenyi Chain Bridge built in 1849,the symbol of Budapest
• It's monuments include 2,000 year old Roman amphitheaters,400 year old Turkish baths and unique Hungarian Art Noveau buildings from the 19th century.

We bought a "hop on hop off" bus ticket that let us take a bus (or boat)around the city at our leisure.
The whole day was spent enjoying this culturally rich city.

Some pictures from the bus.










And by foot.



















And a view from the Danube.







So far one of the big surprises/highlights for me.

wish I had more time there.

[Mark_O]

Wow.

[g®eg]

impressive

[Arek Kontrol]

Great ride report so far!

Keep it coming , lovin' it!

[enduro0125]

Day 15 & 16

We wanted to get out of the city fairly early and try and beat the traffic.
It was a short ride out and then a nice ride along the Danube to catch a ferry across it in Visegrad.



The old tug.






The highlight today was seeing the Tatras Mountains
It would take us until the day we left the region to see them.
They remained hidden in the mist during our stay there.

Crossing into Slovakia.


Still there?


We stopped in Brezno,nice town with a big main square and grabbed lunch at the Elf Restauracia.
The walls were painted with scenes from Tolkien's "Lord of The Rings" trilogy.
Link



We spent the next two nights here.


This hotel was way out of our league,but they are trying to cater to "normal" class people.
So we dined with the best in our synthetic clothes.



With the weather being overcast and no views at higher elevations we chose to spend tomorrow heading east and checking out a castle ruin.



Next the castle.....

[enduro0125]

Day 16

Our day trip today was to Levoča and then The Spiš Castle.

Two more added to our UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

First stop was Levoča.




Time to bring these back?






And on to Spiš Castle.






Ellie bought a nice handmade belt from this guy. It made for a nice souvenir.




Some areas were nicely restored.




Every castle needs a dungeon.
















After the castle, we stopped to pick up some groceries for tomorrow and saw these guys.



Good to see kids still out on their own like when I was young. Surprised to see the Newfie.

Tomorrow we head to Kraków, Poland.

[Cuttle]

thank you!

Originally Posted by enduro0125

Surprised to see the Newfie.

Newfies are not uncommon in Europe - I grew up with one.

[Mark_O]

I suspect the next installment will be delayed a couple of days due to circumstances beyond your control.

[Cuttle]

Originally Posted by Mark_O

I suspect the next installment will be delayed a couple of days due to circumstances beyond your control.

[Arek Kontrol]